The Festival of Social and Labour Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees held on Tuesday 23rd October 2018 at Moltivolti represented the final event of the LISTEN project, thus creating an opportunity to make everyone aware of the project, its techniques and results.
LISTEN – Learning from Intercultural Storytelling aims at introducing storytelling approaches and techniques to a radio environment as a binding factor which brings social and personal benefits for migrants and refugees. Addressed to the inclusion of migrants and refugees, the method is particularly useful for those who seek a multidimensional approach to the issue, thus developing methodologies that allow to face and overcome different linguistic barriers, psychological traumas and backgrounds, often complex that affect this target group.
The Festival, with the participation of all the European partners of the LISTEN project, was also an opportunity for external experts, such as professionals, trainers and other volunteers working with migrants and refugees to learn and familiarize with some of the techniques of storytelling to be integrated into their daily practice.
Indeed, following the presentation of the project held by the German coordinator BUPNET, a workshop on storytelling was held in which the participants took part into different activities, learning and practicing in this way different methodologies that can be reproduced in their respective working contexts. Through the activities, a storytelling path was proposed in which the participants were guided with simple techniques to stimulate their ability to tell, invent stories and give voice to images with the use of their imagination and creativity. A creative method that serves to overcome cultural and linguistic barriers, because these are qualities that we find in different variations in each person and cultures of the world. Actually, during the workshop the participants spoke different languages, thus being an occasion to demonstrate that verbal language does not constitute an obstacle, but rather an instrument that unites, which allows us to know each other better and share stories, experiences and that can be used in a thousand ways. The final exercise was a summary with a particular effect and a strong message: by choosing black and white images the participants created the recipe for the ‘inclusion soup’, then explaining each one the reason for choosing their own photo and in how this image or message is a fundamental ingredient to favor the path of inclusion.
Following the workshop, there was the moment of the Award Ceremony, the stories told by migrants and refugees and recorded during the LISTEN project. The two winners of the storytelling contest, Mamadou and Prudence, with their own voices and narrations have allowed the public to know a cross-section, a memory of their land, a life of their experiences, distant, difficult but full of meaning that they managed to convey with their emotions.
Real/Non- fictional story: Mamadou Oury Diallo with «A talented boy» (in Italian)
Omar, a young boy from Guinea Conakry, with the dream to become a singer and a traveler. After the dead of his father, he couldn’t stay anymore and has decided to escape from his country. He travelled more than two years to reach Italy, the journey was difficult. At 15 years old, he started a new life in Palermo. He studied and started art activities: theater, music. His role model in his life is Thomas Sankara. He wants to spread a message to all African young people migrating to Europe: to have patience and hopes. Tomorrow will be a better day.
Fictional stories/ legends: Prudence Onyejiaka with «The arrogant princess» (in English)
In a certain Kingdom somewhere in the western part of Africa lived a king who planned to marry out his daughter the princess to the any man of her choice. The arrogant princess was too proud and saw nothing good in all her suitors until she learnt her lesson the hard way.
Another story has been shared during the Festival, from Mouhamed Chamwil Njifon with “Bamba” (in Italian)
The story tells about my journey from Libya to Italy and then about my life in Italy. At the end I express the desire of something I would like to have in the future. Through my story I want to spread a message to all migrants that are waiting for their documents in refugee camps: to be patient.
The Festival then ended with a surprise for the winners, who received as a gift a smartphone as a tool to continue the journey of telling and disseminating stories independently. With an aperitif the event ended, giving the opportunity to the participants to interact with each other and exchange impressions about the event.
About the project
LISTEN – Learning Intercultural Storytelling is a two year project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme, Key Action 2 – Strategic Partnerships in the field of Adult education. The LISTEN project aims at introducing storytelling approaches and techniques to a radio environment as a binding factor which brings social and personal benefits for refugees.
Partners
The partnership is made up seven partners out of six European countries:
- BUPNET Bildung und Projekt Netzwek GMBH (Germany),
- Verein Multikulturell – Tyrolean Integration Centre (Austria),
- Active Citizens Partnership (Greece),
- Skelleftea (Sweden),
- Blended learning institutions’ cooperative (Germany),
- Community Action Dacorum (United Kingdom),
- CESIE (Italy).
For further information
Visit listen.bupnet.eu or contact: youth@cesie.org
